Handlungsfeld I: Politik und Gesellschaft

Queer in Israel – Alternative Families and Ways of Life

The annual Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv has long since become an international event, which enjoys popularity even beyond the borders of Israel itself. Yet behind the colorful images lies a socio-political revolution: the continuing advances in legal equality for homosexual people, which doesn’t just make Israel into a veritable beacon in the Middle East, but also a pioneer among Western societies. This project and the publication to result from it deal with a spectrum of different themes linked to the status of LGBTQI people in Israel which is supposed to kick-start a dialogue between German and Israeli stakeholders.

Participants
10 people involved in different LGBTQI organizations in Germany and Israel

Project Content
What is the current state of LGBTQI rights in Israel? Which ways of life and types of family are becoming more accepted? Over the course of the project, questions will be raised and discussed that also have considerable socio-political relevance for Germany. Particular attention will be given to the issues of alternative parenting and family models, homosexuality and religion, LGBTQI in the military, and LGBTQI rights in the Middle East.

Project Working Methods
An editor from Germany and a photographer from Israel will work together on a publication in German and English, which is supposed to help a wider audience connect with a subject that hasn’t thus far received much attention. In Israel, the activists chosen as appropriate case studies will be interviewed and their projects presented. The result is a multi-faceted book including various written pieces and a photo series meant to provide both an overall summary as well as insights into selected initiatives.

Project Goals
The goal of the project is to take a comprehensive socio-political look at a subject that has thus far only been present in party pictures on the Internet. It’s also about conveying the project’s findings to multipliers and activists in Germany via the publication of the book. That way, new cooperation possibilities are to be set in motion among those active in the fiel.
Kooperationspartner
Bet Debora e.V. Berlin
Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance (JOH)
Hentrich & Hentrich Verlag Berlin